Description of several temples of Kerala which are the mini editions of deep devotion
P.R.Ramachander

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Manthakkara Maha Ganapathi temple

NEW KALPATHY MANTHAKKARA MAHA GANAPATHY TEMPLE:(From http://kbspalakkad.org/activities/activities.htm)On the Eastern side of Sree Viswanatha Swamy Temple lays the New Kalpathy Village,which consisted of homes mostly built of thatched roofing. It belonged perhaps to the lastbatch of Tamil Brahmin migrants. Harassed by frequent fires, loss of life and property,the villagers consecrated a temple dedicated to Lord Maha Ganapathy to ward off“Sivadrishti”. The idol of Mahaganapathy resting under a Banyan tree near a tank lyingon the eastern side of this village (Manthakkara) was installed facing Lord Siva. Theresidents of this village were well known scholars of Vedas & purohits well versed intheir profession. Most of the surrounding villages of Palakkad town used to depend onthem for the conduct of Vedic rituals. Any doubt on observation of rituals andinterpretation of sastras used to be debated and decided here. This village is also the birthplace of many professionals, musicians, scientists and men of letters.New Kalpathy village was used to be a citadel of Vedic culture and Sanathana dharmaand it has produced numerous scholars of Vedas and Vedangas. They are still beingremembered by villagers with reverence and devotion. Their scholarship used to berecognized by both Shringeri &Kanchi Sankaracharaya Mutts. This village sent thelargest contingent of Vedic Scholars to attend the All India Sanathana Conference held atKasi during 1932-33.These men of learning never cared for riches or material comforts. For this reason theMandhakkara Lord Maha Ganapathy Temple had no properties worth mentioning. Thepoojas and Festivals used to be conducted on adhoc basis. When once the poojarideserted the temple in disgust the great vedic scholar Brahmashri SangameswaraGanapadikal( father of eminent Sanskrit scholar Shri K.S. Ganapathy Sastri) used to offerNivediyam to Lord Maha Ganapathy from his house. Later on Shri M.K. VenkateswaraIyer, K.D. Subramanua Iyer and Magistrate Swaminatha Iyer raised funds and boughtsome agricultural lands and created a trust for Nitya Nivedyam for this temple. ShriM.N.Ramaswamy Iyer also created a Trust for the conducting of Car Festival.The present Dwajasthampam was consecrated on 8th of Mithunam 1109 ( ME) byMagistrate Swaminatha Iyer incurring the entire expenditure. The next year on 2nd ofKumbham 1110 (ME) a maha Kumbhabhishekam was performed after extensive repairsand covering the roof of Garbhagriham with copper plates. The expenses for this werefully met by Annakutty Vamsom Late Subramania Pattar ( father of Late S.ChidambaraIyer also made arrangements to have Ganapathy Homam performed every day and startedthe big event of conducting Maha Ganapathy Homam on Vinayaka Chathurthy Day using1024 coconuts and proportionate other Ashtadravyams. This form of ritual is known to beconducted only at this temple and it continues even today.IMPORTANT FESTIVALS AT MANTHAKKARA SREE MAHA GANAPATHYTEMPLERatholsavam ( Car Festival )The festival centres round the Viswanathaswamy Temple (Kundampalam in localparlance) on the banks of the Bharathapuzha at Kalpathy, an ancient shrine.According to mythology, the deity was brought from the holy Ganga at Varanasi and thegreat Bana had worshipped in the temple.An inscription on a stone at the east of the Siva temple proclaims that it was built in theMalayalam year 600 (1425 AD) by Itti Kombi Achan, the then Raja of Palakkad.The Car Festival is celebrated in the last week of the Tamil month of Aippasi. Thefestival starts on the 22nd day of Aippasi and concludes on the last day of the month.This synchronises with the festival celebrated at Mayiladuthurai in Thanjavur district.The main centre of the festival is Kalpathy Sree Viswanathaswamy Temple.The three satellite temples in the village of New Kalpathy, Old Kalpathy andChathapuram also celebrate the festival during this time.The Dhwaja Arohanam takes place on the 2nd day in all the four temples. On thefifth day of the festival, the famous Rishabha Vahana procession is taken out in thenight, with the deities from all the temples taken out in decorated cars. Theyconverge at the western end of the New Kalpathy village ground around midnight.They disperse after two hours. Competitions are regularly held for percussionists.This attracts thousands of people from villages around Kalpathy and other parts of thedistrict and outside.On the fifth day, the 28th day of Aippasi, the deity from Viswanathaswamy Temple istaken out and installed in three cars, one for the main deity Sree Viswanathaswamy andhis consort Goddess Parvathy, the second for Vigneswara and the third for LordSubramaniaswamy.The chariots set out on village tour around 10 a.m. After going around all the villages thethree chariots return to the base on the 30th day around sunset.The deities of Old Kalpathy Temple and Chathapuram Temple mount the cars and go onvillage tour the same day. By sunset, all the cars return to their bases. `Abhishekams' areperformed and the deities redecorated and taken out on procession in floral palanquinsaround midnight.The palanquins return to the temple at dawn on the first day of the Tamil month ofKarthigai, coinciding with the Kadamukham festival at Mayiladuthurai and the curtainfalls on the car festival.The Kalpathy Car Festival is based on the Vedic Tamil Brahmin culture. The TamilBrahmins who migrated to Palakkad in the 14th century established as many as 96Agraharams in the district and 18 within the town.The most colorful and important festival of this temple is the Ratholsavam (car festival)held during the middle of November every year. The commencement and termination ofthe festival synchronizes with that of Sree Viswanatha Swamy Temple, which coincideswith the conduct of this festival at Mayavaram Temple in Tamil Nadu. But the actualRath Yathra at New Kalpathy is held only for two days. This temple car being massiveand large cannot be taken in procession through all the Kalpathy streets and hence it isdrawn only through the main street in two laps. The festival is held for 10 days in all andthe Ratha Yatra is only on the two last days. On the remaining days, the temple deity istaken in procession through all the Kalpathy streets in small Goratham accompanied byNadaswaram and fireworks. During the main Ratha Yatra days the Chenda Melam isaccompanied, which is unique in Kerala. The “Kuthirayottam” procession held on theseventh day of the festival is very famous and the Youngsters’ Association conducts thesame and this attracts huge crowd during night. The 5th day festival and the pallackprocession at night on the 9th day are also important and colorful like the two-day’s RathYatra. On all the ten days, highly qualified Vedic scholars chant Yajurveda complete textin the temple.Vinayaka ChathurthiThis is held normally during August – September every year. On the morning ofVinayaka Chathurthi day Ganapathi Homam with 1024 coconuts and proportionate other8 items is performed early morning. Simultaneously a special Rudrabhishekam is alsoperformed. In the evening, the deity is taken in procession through the village withNadaswaram.NavarathriNavarathri festival is also celebrated in our temple. Rudrabhishekam in the morning andKramarchana in the evening are performed on all the 9 days. On the Vihayadashami day,the deity is taken in procession through the village with Nadaswaram and AsuraNigrahom ( Vazha Vettal ) is conducted.Daily routine poojasThe temple open at 5.45 a.m. and closes at 9 a.m. in the morning and between 5.45 p.m.and 7.30 p.m. in the evening. Ganapathy Homam is performed on all the days between5.45 a.m. and 6.15 a.m. The morning Abhishekam and Nivedayam is conducted between7.30 and 8.30 a.m.The temple belongs to the New Kalpathy Grama Jana Samooham and the same isadministrated by the Brahmins residing within the traditional boundaries (Vasthu) ofNew Kalpathy that consists of almost 150 households.The private nature of the temple is established by the fact that the temple remains closedwhenever a member dies (within Vastu) as a mark of respect till the dead body is takenout for cremation.

3 comments:

Namaskaram,The collection is so great that it gives lot of information about each temple which is not known to many.Highly appreciate your good work and service to Brahmin community especially to the new generation..brgdsGopal / Sharjahgopalji65@gmail.com